The project's objective

The project was to design a 3,300 m2 nursery home in the town of Egilsstaðir in East Iceland.

The building is 2-3 levels with technical rooms in basements. The design makes it possible to add one level on the building's rooftop later, should the need arise.

The structural system mostly consists of cast-in-place concrete elements together with pre-casted concrete elements and steel structures.

Designing lighting for the elderly requires special consideration and care from architects and lighting designers. As people age, they experience neurodegeneration in the retina and less light reaches the back of the eyes. This results in the need for more light compared to the needs of a younger person performing the same visual task. In addition, the eye loses flexibility, and consequentially, the maturing eye takes longer to adapt to changes in lighting levels or illuminance. The light transmission qualities of the eye also deteriorate with age. Therefore, lighting design for the maturing eyesight must consider and control glare.

Ventilation is a very important subject when it comes to health care facilities. A well-designed ventilation system and careful cleaning can reduce the risk of bacteria spreading between patients and can influence their wellbeing. The elderly are more susceptible to diseases than younger people. Therefore, special considerations were made when designing the potable water system to prevent the formation and spread of diseases such as Legionnaires' disease. Burn prevention was also a priority when designing all piping systems.

Acoustical design involved describing building partitions for good sound insulation between rooms and between rooms and common spaces and corridors, to ensure that residents are not disturbed due to external noise. All rooms were designed for short reverberation time, using acoustical model with Odeon software, and special consideration was made for noise from technical equipment.

Environmental issues

The building was designed according to the BREEAM environmental assessment process.